Curse Of The Lady's Light GM Resources

Curse Of The Lady's Light is part 2 of 6 of the Shattered Star Adventure Path; that book
is necessary to run the adventure but Pathfinder Fate Accelerated write ups are
provided for the various opponents and challenges faced therein. Use the linked
to documents as relevant to the published adventure.

Part 1: The Journey South

For reasons of space, the Part 1 content of Curse of the Lady's Light got cut from
the published book. However, it was released as a free web supplement so...bonus!

But, even with the web supplement included, Part 1 is very anemic and perfunctory
as written. The action really kicks into gear once the adventurers have gotten to
the Lady's Cape region and thus start Part 2; traveling to the location in Part
1 gets short shrift.

However by default the adventurers are assumed to start the quest in the metropolis
of Magnimar, and thus there is an open sandbox for all sorts of urban side
quests therein prior to leaving the city for the swampy Mushfens.

The below content will follow the structure of the published material, but also
includes some sidebarred suggestions where relevant which a GM is of course free
to heed or ignore.

It seems to be assumed by the adventure as written that the adventurers have a role
playing encounter with Sheila Heidmarch (or alternately some other patron, or else
acquire information as a scholarly pursuit)...but it gets completely handwaved away
in the interests of space.

Obviously, injecting more narrative into this interlude between Shards of Sin and
Lady's Light is something most GM's would and should consider.

The span of time between Shards of Sin and Curse of the Lady's Light is also open
ended. Thus, it is entirely possible that the adventurers have gone on other quests
or spent their time engaging in any manner of activity in the interlude.

All of that is outside the bounds of this content and left to individual GM's to
handle as they think best.

Handout About The Remaining Shards

A list of the remaining Shards' abilities is provided by Sheila Heidmarch as written,
but however they come by it the information presented is something that it is safe
(advisable, even) for the adventurers to know as they continue to look for more
Shards.

Jasper Kandamerus

One way or another, the adventurers are told that a somewhat crazed priest of Groetus
named Jasper Kandamerus who wanders around Magnimar, particularly frequenting the
neighborhood of Rag's End in Beacon's Point,
has a good deal of useful knowledge about the Mushfens and the Lady's Cape area
specifically.

Rag's End sprawls like a tumor in the center of the Beacon's Point district, a slum
warren of narrow alleys, overcrowding, and poverty...yet not without its charms.

Most of the hovels and flats are owned by the slum lord Rassimeri Jaijarko,
but there are plenty of other lowlifes to be found...most notably the infamous and
feared Night Scales criminal enterprise is based in this area. Crime is high,
and the watch patrols here infrequently.

On the map, Rag's End is the darker shaded buildings in the center of the Beacon's
Point district.

Simply spending the time to go to Rag's End and look around is sufficient to find
Jasper, but if one of the player characters has a solid Magnimar based background,
feel free to dress it up a bit and allow the Magnimarian adventurer a chance to
show off their city knowledge.

Urban Entanglements

This is also an excellent nexus point to mix in some urban encounters (a pickpocket,
for instance), a subplot anchored on the slum lord Jaijarko, the Night Scales criminal
enterprise or a rival gang, and so on.

Defending The Street Prophet

As written, when the adventurers arrive on the scene it is but mere moments before
a grizzled mendicant priest meeting the description of Jasper gets jumped by three
young toughs bearing the blackened lips of night lotus addicts.

The thugs brazenly pack attack and beat the hapless priest down with not only no
concern for witnesses, but even seeming to posture and pose a bit for onlookers.
As if they hope to be seen curb stomping a sad old kook.

More Directed Aggression

To make things a little more personal, if the GM has added in one or more competing
factions who are also looking for the Shards, they could replace the Black Kiss
Boys with minions of the adventurers' rivals for the Shards. They heard that the
adventurers were looking for Jasper, or that he has good intel on the Mushfens,
and thus are trying to snatch the deranged cleric off the streets to find out what
he knows.

Getting Info From Jasper

Assuming the adventurers save Jasper from danger, the information he has is spotty
but solid.

Compassionate adventurers might realize that Jasper is suffering from a debilitating
mental condition and take steps to get the not-quite-harmless lunatic the professional
help that he needs. Particularly since he does not think of himself as being insane.
Afterall, he went to your schools, he went to your churches, he went to your institutional
learning facilities, so how can you say that HE's crazy?

Seriously though, he's a total loon. Getting his schizophrenia cured is a side quest
unto itself.

It is also possible that Jasper will accompany the adventurers, providing some comic
relief along the way if his condition has not been treated.

One of the more useful things Jasper can tell the adventurers about is the marsh
witch Maroux who lives in the Lady's Cape region and isn't necessarily hostile if
approached properly.

Adventurers who manage to get useful information out of Jasper who later end up
traveling on foot through the Mushfens to the Lady's Cape from Magnimar or vice
versa may cut a day off of their journey to no less than two and a half days, thanks
to insights and trail lore received from Jasper.

Finally, while suffering from his mental maladay Jasper periodically interjects
or proclaims seemingly non-sensical statements. See the accompaning image for examples.

Two Basic Ways To Get To Lady's Cape

There are two basic ways to get to the Lady's Cape, by land or by sea.

The land route will take three to five days of slogging through the bandit and boggard
infested marshlands of the Mushfens. Lots of opportunity for adventure and
even to pursue a side quest or two.

Going by sea will only take about a day, and in fact the adventurers' patron can
help them find passage aboard a trustworthy vessel conveniently heading that way.
Much less messy and more expedient, but less dramatic.

As might be expected, riding easy on a ship lends itself to a more social oriented
troupe of adventurers, while roughing it through the swamp favors a more athletic
line up. Either way, once the adventurers arrive at the Lady's Cape region, they
have entered Part 2.

GM Options

If a GM wants the adventurers to go one route or the other, simply don't offer the
other option.

If a GM wants to offer the choice, but favors the land route they can incentivize
it by making passage aboard a ship with a captain willing to brave the dangerous
shoals to put them ashore prohibitively expensive.

If a GM wants to offer the choice, but favors the sea route they can incentivize
it by putting some kind of clock on the adventure and thus the adventurers will
favor the faster route. Alternately, drop a warning about a dangerous manticore
that has been marauding in the area they will have to travel through if they go
by land (or some other credible threat).

The Manticore's Trap

If the adventurers take the land route, they might encounter any number of minor
swamp-based encounters as the GM sees fit. But the "big" encounter is with a cunning
manticore named Neegog.

Neegog is not stupid or suicidal, and this encounter can be solved by impressing
(or bullying) the manticore then striking a bargain with him. He will generally
concede if he takes either a Moderate or a Severe consquence, and the concession
can be an offer to give information or guide the adventurers to their destination.
However, even so, there will likely be some initial violence as Neegog is using
a patch of quicksand as a trap to aid him in his hunting and more than likely at
least one adventurer will be sucked into it. Neegog waits until one or more adventurers
are busy trying to pull out any teammates stuck in the quicksand to pounce.

Murder On The Wanton Ways

If the adventurers opt to take a ship to their destination, there is a single midnight
encounter with a murderess caught red-handed by at least one of the adventurers.
The perpetrator is wreaking what sounds like a well-deserved revenge on one of the
sailors of the vessel.

The killer, Dialla Marteme, does not want to fight the adventurers and attempts
to resolve the encounter socially by explaining the situation. If the adventurers
turn it into a conflict, she flees; if they attempt to pursue she concedes contingent
on being allowed to get away.